Drawn to You
by Sirius I'm Serious
Summary: After spending months admiring his crush, Yoshiki decides that he should finally confess to Ayumi. And what better time to do that than at Christmas? What he's not expecting is more than a little bit of help from his friends...
1. What to Do

Disclaimer: _I do not own Corpse Party._

 _Hey! This story is a Christmas present for my sister, RedRoseKitsune! Ayushiki is her favorite Corpse Party pairing, and because of all of the terrible things that happen to them and the rest of the Kisaragi Crew, I feel like we need some happiness._

 _Spoilers for Blood Covered: Repeated Fear, Book of Shadows, and Blood Drive due to some references._

 _Normal life AU (in other words, Heavenly Host does not and will not ever exist here)._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Drawn to You

Chapter One: What to Do

Yoshiki Kishinuma loved Ayumi Shinozaki.

There was never any question of that.

Ever since Ayumi had essentially saved Yoshiki from getting kicked out of school, he had felt a great respect for her. She was kind and cared for everyone, but she had a stubborn streak and could take care of business if necessary. She was never afraid to say what was on her mind.

It hadn't started out as love, but over the course of several months, Yoshiki realized that his respect had turned into admiration, which consequently evolved into liking, which had then finally blossomed into love.

Shocked to say the least, Yoshiki considered what all of this meant. He loved her, sure, but what did that mean for the future? Yoshiki and all the rest of his classmates were almost seniors and would be graduating soon, with most going off to college. He had no plans of that himself, but he was pretty sure that his friends did, and that meant that they would soon be separated. Not forever of course, as all of them were just a phone call away, but they couldn't just meet up every day at school like they did now.

So, like it or not, Yoshiki decided that he had to let Ayumi know about his feelings, just to get them off of his chest if nothing else. The only problem was, the feelings were not exactly mutual.

At all.

It was obvious to everyone with eyes that Ayumi had a major crush on Satoshi Mochida. Yoshiki's best friend.

Luckily, (though mostly on Yoshiki's end), Satoshi had finally confessed his feelings to Naomi Nakashima, and she had accepted. The whole scene had been extremely awkward to say the least, though everyone congratulated them when they could finally decipher his confession and her acceptance.

Yoshiki was proud of his friend for finally spitting it out, but his heart had dropped into his stomach when he saw Ayumi's reaction. Though on the outside she had been happy and congratulatory, Yoshiki noticed that for the rest of the day, she would steal furtive little glances at the couple and then quickly look away with an upset expression on her face. After the third or fourth time, he stopped watching, too heartbroken to observe any further.

She obviously still liked the timid boy, and that brought up a confused jumble of emotions for Yoshiki. He was angry that Ayumi still had feelings for a clearly taken guy, but he was also sad because that meant that she held none for him.

Though discouraged, Yoshiki was still determined to let Ayumi know how he felt. He couldn't stand the thought of her moving away to college and dating some other man before he confessed to her. It was the principle of the thing.

There was only one problem. He had no idea how to go about confessing.

He wasn't a feelings type of guy, and it seemed that everything that he did made Ayumi angry or irritated in some way. But there had to be something. Something that he could do or say that would truly convey how much he cared for her.

At the moment, however, Yoshiki was at a loss. It was currently the week before Christmas, and he figured that he could somehow incorporate his plan into a gift. He knew what she liked. His entire friend group always knew what to get for each other, but he wanted the gift for Ayumi this year to be special.

" _She likes illustrations,_ " Yoshiki thought to himself as his homeroom filed in. He himself was currently sitting at his desk, absentmindedly doodling on its surface with a pencil. " _Maybe something to do with that? A drawing pad… or pencils…? Ah, I don't know…_ " He furiously scratched at his head with his free hand, ruffling his hair.

"Something wrong, Kishinuma-kun?" A voice blurted out from behind him.

"Ack!" Yoshiki ceased his little movements and turned around in his chair, the concerned face of Mayu Suzumoto staring back at him.

Mayu's presence itself was somewhat of a miracle. Her entire family had been planning to move due to her father's work, and all of her closest friends had spent the day of the Culture Festival wishing her well.

Ayumi had even tried to use a friendship charm that would connect them as friends forever, but that idea was quickly shot down by Satoshi because it looked like a 'creepy cult thing that would send us all to Hell.' Though Ayumi mocked him, Yoshiki was somewhat glad on the inside. There had been something off about the paper doll that Ayumi had been holding.

As the day came to a close, there were a lot of sad tears and hugging (mostly from the girls), and Mayu was only cheered up with the promise that they would come visit her over the holidays.

It was therefore a huge shock the next day when Mayu appeared at school with a huge grin on her face. It had taken the friends ten minutes to calm down, but when they finally did, Mayu explained that her father had taken one look at his dejected daughter's face and had called his boss, asking if there was any way that he could stay in his current location. Mayu had chuckled at the recollection, and said that his boss was somewhat relieved, for he was actually going to call her father the next morning to ask if he could stay. It turned out that the branch Mayu's father currently worked at still needed him and would have been in serious trouble if he had left.

The friend group had all laughed and sighed in relief, and even the boys joined in the hugging this time. After all of this, the friends realized how much they had taken each other for granted, and they vowed to always appreciate their ties.

However, her appearance was still something to get used to, and Yoshiki tried to calm himself down from his initial panic.

"Ah, Suzumoto. N-not really." He watched as her concerned expression slowly shifted into one of puzzlement, before it settled onto a type of determined frustration. " _Oh no,_ " he thought, preparing himself for the worst.

"Kishinuma-kun," she lectured, crossing her arms. "You're obviously upset about something."

"Ah." Yoshiki knew that he should probably just give in. Mayu was similar to Ayumi in the respect that she had a stubborn streak. In fact, all of his friends did. It was one of the many reasons he thought that they could put up with each other. Clearing his throat, he murmured, "It's Shinozaki."

Mayu grinned slightly. "Gotcha. Having a lover's spat?"

Yoshiki sputtered slightly, his face darkening to an almost maroon color. Waving his hands in front of his face, he whispered, "K-keep it down, Suzumoto!"

"What's this about a lover's spat?"

Yoshiki slapped a hand to his face and slid it down slowly. " _Dear God, kill me now._ "

A chair slid over next to him, and a rough pat on the back made him cough slightly. Knowing the voice but turning to look anyway, he saw Seiko Shinohara smiling at him, her eyes wide in a slightly crazed look. The girl was _always_ butting into his love life, almost to the extent that she had done with her best friend. But it seemed that, since Naomi and Satoshi were now together, all of Seiko's matchmaking energy was directed at Yoshiki. Even worse was that she was still high on her victory of getting the two oblivious people together, which made her all the more confident.

"Hey, Shinohara-san!" Mayu looked over at the girl and smiled. "We were just talking about Kishinuma-kun's crush on Shinozaki-san."

"Please, guys!" Yoshiki gripped both of their shoulders in an attempt to make them stop.

But Seiko was having none of that. "Oh ho ho. I knew it! Kishinuma-kun is head over heels for our resident occult gal! He must be into all of that strange stuff." The two girls giggled.

"For the last time, stop!" Yoshiki squeezed their shoulders.

"Okay, okay. We really should stop, Shinohara-san." Mayu gently pried Yoshiki's hand off of her, patting it slightly with her other hand. "He's so sweet. His feelings for her are really pure."

"Gah." Yoshiki snatched his hands away from his two friends, facing forward and picking up his pencil again to scribble just to distract himself. "It's not sweet or pure… it's just… ya know."

Mayu sat down on Yoshiki's other side and watched him carefully. Seiko on the other hand whipped out her own pencil and started to draw in the free space.

After a while, Mayu chuckled. "Speaking of our class rep, you better not let her catch you guys doing that. Friends or no, she'll give you detention for vandalizing school property."

"Ah, no she won't." Seiko scribbled. "I've drawn on half of these desks and she hasn't so much as given me a second glance. She's even joined in a few times and made it like a hundred times better!" She continued with her drawing. "We've kept all of the drawings on the desks too. I think the students want them personalized."

"Well except for that one time." Yoshiki looked up and smirked, hoping to get some payback for their teasing. "Shinozaki and Yui-sensei yelled at you when you drew that… um… X-rated scene of Satoshi and Nakashima."

"Ha! Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Seiko chuckled, reliving the memory. Yoshiki sighed inwardly, forgetting that his friend had no sense of shame. "To be fair, they did get together the next week. I like to think that I gave them some… ideas." At this, Seiko wiggled her eyebrows and laughed.

"That aside, what exactly about Shinozaki-san are you worrying about, Kishinuma-kun?" Mayu asked, not letting the group stray too far from their original conversation.

"Well, it's almost Christmas, and I… want to get her something special." Chuckling nervously, he decided to put it all out in the open. "I'm gonna confess to her, and I want the gift to help with that."

As soon as he finished his sentence, both girls froze. Wondering what was amiss, Yoshiki mumbled, "Guys?"

His word seemed to snap them out of their trance, and, in unison, they squealed, "That's so _cute_!"

Hissing slightly, Yoshiki's face flushed at their dramatic outburst. "If you guys don't stop screaming, I will literally –"

"What's cute?"

At this point, Yoshiki slammed his face down onto the desk. " _This morning could not get any worse._ "

He heard the sound of two chairs being pulled in front of him. Looking up from his mini fit, Yoshiki saw Satoshi and Naomi looking at him with interest.

"Ah, Naomi! We were just listening to Kishinuma-kun confess his undying love for –"

Yoshiki lifted up his pencil and aimed it threateningly at Seiko's throat. "Say one more word and I'll do it."

Seiko chuckled. "Do what? Draw me to death?"

"Before we get violent, why don't you tell us what's really going on, Yoshiki?" Satoshi grabbed his friend's wrist and pulled it down towards the desk, shaking him until he dropped the pencil.

"Well, ya see… I'm… gonna confess to Shinozaki, and I want to get her the perfect gift to go along with it." He decided that spitting it all out would save everyone time.

Naomi smiled. "I see. Congratulations, Kishinuma-kun! That's really brave of you."

Satoshi patted Yoshiki on the shoulder in a much gentler way than Seiko had. "Congrats, Yoshiki. She's a lucky girl."

"Hey guys. Not that I don't appreciate all of the sentiments, but there is a reason that I haven't confessed to her yet," Yoshiki said impatiently due to being slightly flustered.

"Oh, yeah?" Satoshi tilted his head.

"You're just nervous right?" Mayu smiled kindly. "It's always kind of nerve-wracking to confess. Just ask Nakashima-san and Mochida-kun."

"Ha! They were so nervous that they couldn't even form coherent sentences!"

"Seiko…" Naomi blushed and growled warningly at her friend. "Anyway, Suzumoto-san's right. It's pretty scary, but once it's all out in the open… it just kind of… works."

"Yeah… I mean, that's definitely part of it, sure. But, there's one other thing." Yoshiki paused. He wasn't sure whether or not he should reveal what he knew. If Satoshi and Naomi found out that Ayumi had a crush on the former… things could get ugly quickly.

"Like what?" Mayu asked, blinking.

" _Well… I could always just say that she doesn't like me. I don't have to tell them about her crush._ " Sighing, he murmured, "Shinozaki… doesn't really like me in that way. It's not that she hates me… but I don't think she's interested. Ya know… romantically."

There was a silence at this. Confirming for Yoshiki that what he said was true. " _Damn,_ " he thought, looking down at the scribbled-on desk. " _I really don't have a shot with her at all. Even my friends think so…_ "

A firm hand grasped his shoulder. Looking up, he saw that Satoshi was looking at him with determination in his eyes. "Yoshiki… you shouldn't think that way."

Surprised, Yoshiki exclaimed, "What do you mean? You guys know it's true. That's why you didn't dispute it right away."

"Kishinuma-kun," Mayu placed a hand on his arm. "We were just shocked that you feel that way. Shinozaki-san cares about you. More than you probably think."

Yoshiki scoffed. "Uh-huh. Has she told you that?"

Looking down, Mayu murmured, "No…"

Feeling bad for making her sad, Yoshiki put his hand on hers. "Hey, Suzumoto. I didn't mean it that way. It's just… she doesn't…"

"Kishinuma." A new voice had Yoshiki look up and to his left. Standing next to Mayu (almost seemingly appearing out of thin air) was Sakutaro Morishige. The bespectacled boy was peering down at Yoshiki with one hand on Mayu's shoulder. "Mayu and Mochida are simply stating that you should not lose your determination so easily. Confessing is surely an endeavor, but the cost of avoiding it is just as high, if not more so." Straightening his glasses, Morishige concluded, "Shinozaki is not a cruel person. There is more to gain than to lose, as she will not outright reject you. She's more likely to accept than to reject in any case."

"Uh… thanks, Morishige. But one question." Yoshiki gave him a strange look while slowly removing his hand from Mayu's. "How long have you been here?"

"For a while."

"Not gonna elaborate on that, huh?"

"Kishinuma-kun," Naomi called out, bringing his attention back to the group at large. "What we're saying is, though we tease and joke, we want you to be happy with the class rep. She cares about you, and even though she's never said it outright… well… we think it's worth giving this a shot."

"Yeah. So don't lose hope, buddy." Satoshi squeezed his shoulder before letting go.

"Yeah, Kishinuma-kun! Confess the crap outta her!"

"What exactly does that mean, Shinohara –?"

"We're behind you all the way, Kishinuma-kun!" Mayu looked up again, happy and bubbly as always.

Yoshiki was touched. He really was. All of his friends were smiling at him, and they all really believed in him. His negative thoughts could not have been farther from the truth. They really did bring out the best in him. This was why they were his friends. They accepted him unconditionally, and they always knew just what to say to cheer him up.

Not wanting to show too much emotion, Yoshiki simply grinned and murmured, "Thanks, you guys."

"No problem! In fact, we can brainstorm later –"

"Hey guys! What's going on here? Are you hanging out without me?"

And finally, the circle was complete.

Yoshiki looked up to see that the girl in question had finally arrived. Ayumi was currently looking around at all of her friends, a smile on her face with her hands on her hips. She looked beautiful as always, and Yoshiki had to remind himself not to stare too hard. Her gaze eventually fell on his, and her smile brightened slightly. He nodded back at her.

"Not really anything, Shinozaki-san," Mayu chirped. "We were all just talking and waiting for you!"

"Really now?" Ayumi giggled. "Are you sure it wasn't to have a group art session on Kishinuma-kun's desk?" She pointedly looked down at all of the scribbles on the surface.

"Ah… well…"

"It was Kishinuma-kun and Shinohara-san!"

"Suzumoto!"

"Suzume-chan!"

"Ah! Don't hurt me!" Mayu quickly stood up and hid behind Morishige's back, the latter sighing slightly at the childish display of behavior.

After everyone in the group chuckled, Ayumi said, "Well, there's no point in disciplining you now. It's basically tradition to have Shinohara-san draw something on your desk. Although," she gave Yoshiki an interested look, causing him to shuffle slightly, "it is unusual for you to join her, Kishinuma-kun."

Feeling all eyes on him, Yoshiki stuttered, "A-ah. Well… it looked interesting, so I thought I'd draw with her."

"Oh?" Ayumi suddenly came around behind him and leaned over, looking at the desk. Yoshiki's face heated up slightly as he felt one of her ponytails brush onto his shoulder. " _She's… really close…_ " Yoshiki didn't know what to do with himself. Hoping that just acting casually would be enough, he did nothing as Ayumi continued to look over his shoulder.

"What's this?" She pointed to the spot where Seiko had been scribbling, and, as the whole group looked to see what she was indicating, Yoshiki blushed even more.

On the desk, the words 'Yoshiki and' were clearly etched onto its surface. The words were encased within an ornate heart, and there was enough space to fit another name into it. Luckily, Seiko had put his name first, or this situation could have gotten much more awkward.

Realizing he had to say something because this obviously involved him, he responded, "J-just… uh… planning ahead."

As soon as he said these words, Yoshiki wanted to slap himself in the face. " _Planning ahead? What the hell does_ that _mean? You sound like a total loser…_ "

As Yoshiki spiraled into these thoughts, he felt Ayumi stand up suddenly. He realized that, now that she was farther away from him, she had had a pleasant aroma that was now missing. He couldn't quite place it, but it had been very comforting.

"I see. Well then," Ayumi walked around to the front of the group, which had surprisingly gone silent. "We should all get ready for class. Let's go, everyone!"

There were assorted shouts of 'yes class rep' and other related things, and the group of friends quickly scurried away and returned chairs to their proper places. During all of the commotion, Ayumi bent down to look at Yoshiki in the eye.

"W-what's up, Shinozaki?" Yoshiki tried to regain some of his cool demeanor, lest he fall apart completely.

Suddenly, Ayumi reached out a hand and gently placed her thumb on Yoshiki's cheek. Spluttering slightly, Yoshiki was too shocked to move, and he merely sat there, frozen, as Ayumi began to rub.

After a few moments, she pulled away. Straitening up, she exclaimed, "You had some graphite on your cheek. Probably from your 'planning ahead'." With that, Ayumi smiled and headed over to her seat in the front of the room, leaving a shell-shocked Yoshiki behind.

& After School &

Yoshiki was still in a small daze as he packed up what he had brought to school today. As he shoved his empty lunch container into his bag, he thought back to this morning and what Ayumi had done.

" _She… touched my face. Pretty gently too. Maybe even… caringly? Gah, I don't know…_ "

Pausing in his actions, Yoshiki lightly touched the spot on his face where Ayumi had rubbed it, and he could feel a slight warmth there. Whether or not it was him blushing or residual heat from the touch was debatable to him.

But he was still confused. Ayumi clearly liked Satoshi. He had seen her jealous looks the day that he and Naomi got together, and they seemed pretty intense. Her actions today could've been seen as flirtatious, but she had a crush on his friend. The other implication could be that she… liked them both. But Ayumi did not seem to be that type of person.

" _Still,_ " Yoshiki thought, " _it's not like you can control your feelings. She could have a thing for both of us for all I know. But… she hasn't given_ me _those lovesick glances._ " He sharply removed his hand from his face, the familiar sensation of jealousy creeping up from his stomach. " _It's probably just your wishful thinking. She's close with all of us… I just notice more…_ "

Hanging his head, Yoshiki finished his preparations and walked out of the classroom, wondering what he should do.

" _Well, it's Monday today. I've got until Friday before all of us get together after school to exchange presents._ "

As Yoshiki pondered his possible gift options and how he could incorporate that into his confession, he walked past a group of people who were blocking the hallway somewhat. He bumped into one person, causing him to distractedly murmur, "Sorry."

"No problem, Lover Boy."

"Huh?" After this statement, multiple hands grabbed onto him and started pulling him back into the school.

"Oi! Let go of me!" His indignant cries were ignored as he was continuously dragged back into the classroom that he had just vacated. Looking at his captors, he saw that it was (unsurprisingly) his friends with large grins on their faces.

"You guys! Stop it! What are you doing?" He was completely ignored until he was taken over to his desk and forced down into the chair. Slightly ruffled but knowing he wasn't in any danger, he straightened up his uniform jacket that was now askew due to the struggle. Regaining his composure, he muttered, "You're all idiots, ya know that?"

He looked up at his friends that were all standing around him, their grins not fading in the slightest. Satoshi and Morishige each had one hand on his shoulder to prevent him from getting up, while Naomi and Seiko suddenly turned and ran towards the doors of the classroom, presumably, Yoshiki assumed, to lock them and prevent anyone from intruding. Mayu pulled up a seat and sat down in front of Yoshiki, giggling slightly.

"Don't be like that, Kishinuma-kun. We're here to help."

Yoshiki was not buying it. "Uh huh. Then why did you kidnap me?" Noticing the absence of one member of their group, he asked, "And where the hell is Shinozaki? She's not involved in all of this madness?"

At this point, Seiko and Naomi had returned to the group and stood on either side of Mayu. "Why would we spoil the surprise for Shinozaki-san?" Seiko exclaimed, feigning shock.

"Wha –?"

"What Seiko is trying to say," Naomi took over, shaking her head, "is that we're here to help you plan your confession."

"And why exactly –?"

"Because we said we would, remember?" Satoshi chuckled. "Besides, you probably need all of the help you can get."

"Oi!" Yoshiki threw off the two boys' hands, standing up furiously. "I don't need your damn help! I'll work it out on my own!"

"Uh… no, you won't." Satoshi looked at Yoshiki seriously. "We know you like to do things on your own, but this is important. We just wanna make sure it goes well."

"Weeelll," Seiko drawled slightly. "We also just wanna tease you too. Kill two birds with one stone." She chuckled.

Yoshiki sighed in defeat. He knew his friends only wanted the best for him. They had proved as much this morning. Still, he felt slightly awkward needing help from others to confess to the girl he loved.

His pride made him want to do this on his own. But his friends knew Ayumi just as well as he did, and six brains were better than one. Plus, as he thought about the possibility of Ayumi accepting his feelings and being his girlfriend, his heart started to throb.

" _It's completely ridiculous and humiliating, but if it means that I can finally be with Shinozaki… then I'll do anything… I'll put up with anything… just to see her smiling face…_ "

"Uh, Kishinuma-kun?" Mayu's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"Huh? Uh… yeah. Fine, I'll do it."

"Alright then." As Mayu said this, Satoshi and Morishige gently shoved Yoshiki back into his chair, but this time, they didn't hold him down.

"First things first." Mayu stood up and walked over to the front of the classroom where the chalkboard was located. She picked up a piece of chalk and tried to reach up to the top of the board. "We… need to…" She continued to strain in vain. Pouting, she asked, "Hey, Shige-nii? Could you write out our list please?"

Morishige nodded quickly and crossed the classroom over to Mayu. As he did so, Seiko cooed, "Aw! Suzume-chan, you're so short! I just wanna put you in my pocket!"

The girl in question blushed slightly. "S-Shinohara-san! That's not nice."

"Besides," Yoshiki snorted, "you're like an inch taller than her. That's pretty tiny yourself."

"He's got you there, Seiko!" Naomi laughed, pinching her friend's cheek.

" _Anyway_! Don't we have a list to develop guys?" Seiko blushed and made a face at her taller friend's teasing.

"Of course." Morishige took the chalk from Mayu and wrote the words 'Operation: Kishinuma Confession', and then drew a line underneath. He wrote out the number one, then turned to face the group. "What are some of our ideas?"

"Hang on. I just thought of something." Yoshiki looked at the closed doors. "You guys never answered where Shinozaki was. How was she not with all of you?"

"It was good thinking on Suzumoto-san's part," Naomi answered, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "She told Yui-sensei about our plan, and she agreed to distract the class rep with something related to school. Class events for after the holidays."

Upon hearing this, Yoshiki's face exploded in red. "Wha –? You guys even told Yui-sensei about this?" Putting his face in his hands, he muttered, "What a mess…"

"Hey, don't worry about it." Yoshiki looked up to see Seiko pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Naomi, grinning. "Yui-sensei already knew." She winked.

Yoshiki sighed. "I don't know if that makes it better or worse."

"Anyway. Back to our plan." Mayu pointed dramatically at the board. "We need some ideas, stat!"

"Oh! I've got one!" Seiko bounced in her seat. "Kishinuma-kun can –"

"Before Shinohara says anything else," Satoshi interrupted, pulling a chair up on Naomi's other side. "We should establish that the plans are… PG."

"Come on, Mochida-kun! I wasn't gonna suggest anything _that_ bad! That's reserved for people who are already together… if ya catch my drift." She wiggled her eyebrows at the couple. The two in question blushed and coughed, looking away from each other.

"Guys! This is getting us nowhere. We've only got a few minutes for this. Yui-sensei can't distract Shinozaki-san forever, and she'll wanna walk home with us." Mayu tapped the chalkboard impatiently.

The group calmed down and grew silent as they began to think. Yoshiki looked at everyone pondering deeply and felt another wave of appreciation run through him. " _These guys… they really are my best friends…_ "

After another minute or so of relative silence, Mayu spoke up again. "I've got an idea! Kishinuma-kun could watch the sunset with Shinozaki-san." Her eyes lit up. "That would be super romantic!"

Morishige nodded and wrote out the idea. Thinking of something, Yoshiki joked, "Hey, Morishige. You might want to take mental notes of what Suzumoto is saying. Ya know… just in case."

Morishige stopped immediately in his writing and turned around slowly to face Yoshiki. "Are you implying something you should not be, Kishinuma?"

Leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head, Yoshiki chuckled. "Not so much implying as actually stating – ah!" A piece of chalk was flung directly at his face. In his haste to avoid it, Yoshiki leaned back too far and ended up tumbling out of his chair. He groaned slightly as everyone laughed. "Guh. You guys… are so heartless…" He started to pick himself and his chair up.

Mayu, meanwhile, had a red tinge on her cheeks. "Heh. H-here's a new piece of chalk, Shige-nii." She picked up a piece from the teacher's podium and handed it to him.

Morishige looked back at her and smiled slightly. "Thank you, Mayu." As he went to take it from her, everyone saw their two hands brush together, which caused Mayu to giggle nervously, and for Morishige to push his glasses up with his free hand and look away.

"Oh my god!" Seiko rolled her eyes. "You guys are worse than Naomi and Mochida-kun. Just kiss already!"

"W-we are here to help Kishinuma with his confession to the class rep. Stop prattling on about ideas not related to the topic at hand!" Morishige stuttered, completely losing his trademark composure.

"Heh. Alright, Morishige-kun." Seiko winked, causing everyone to either sigh wearily or laugh at how ridiculous this situation was becoming.

Mayu's face had returned to its normal complexion as she pointed at the chalkboard again. "Okay, guys! Let's focus again. What else can Kishinuma-kun do to reveal his feelings to Shinozaki-san in the most romantic way possible? Oh! And don't forget to tie a gift into it!"

After hearing Mayu's choice of words, Yoshiki flushed in embarrassment. "G-guys…" He could feel his tough and cool demeanor fading by the second.

"Oh! I know," Naomi interjected. "He could give her a drawing of her. It'll incorporate her love of art, plus it can be a physical manifestation of what the class rep looks like to him."

"Nice, Naomi!" Seiko raised her hand for a high-five, which the girl gladly returned. Meanwhile, Morishige quickly wrote the idea down on the board.

However, Yoshiki felt like he had to bring something up. "Uh, guys? I can't really draw. Like, at all."

"What are you saying?" Satoshi looked at his friend with a confused look on his face. "I see you doodling all the time."

Yoshiki scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. But that's just what you said. Doodles. I can't really draw people… and not like Shinozaki can. If she doesn't freak out that I have a portrait of her, which in all honesty, is probably what she'll do, she'll probably throw up at the sight of it."

"Well… I'm not sure about the freaking out part, but I'm sure you can draw a decent picture of her, Kishinuma-kun." Mayu smiled encouragingly at him. "Besides, you have the rest of this week to do it."

Yoshiki thought about it for a moment. " _They have a point. Plus, if Shinozaki was gonna freak out, she'd freak out at the confession anyway. Might as well incorporate her thinking of me as a weirdo into a gift idea._ " He looked up at the board, refusing to make eye contact with his friends. He didn't want to make their heads too big by admitting that he liked all of their ideas. ""Hmpf. _Fine_. I'll get started on it today."

"Well alright then!" Seiko bounced in her seat excitedly. "Then here's some fancy paper and art pencils for ya to use!" With that, the girl bent down to reach into her bag and produced a few sheets of paper, along with a packet of artistic colored pencils and a few drawing pencils.

As she handed them to him, Yoshiki was slightly alarmed. "Where did you get all of this art stuff, Shinohara?" He took them from her gently, not wanting to damage any of it and consequently ruin his present.

"Not important!" Seiko laughed. "Just think of it as an early Christmas present from yours truly." She saluted him.

Yoshiki chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Heh. Thanks, Shinohara. I'll make good use out of this." He bent down and gently placed everything in his bag. He was much more careful then when he had packed it just a few minutes previously. However, once he had secured everything into place, he shot up, a sudden curiosity hitting him.

"Hey… how did you know that I would need this drawing stuff for a Christmas present? We just thought of the idea now." He looked at Seiko pointedly, waiting for her answer.

Seiko didn't miss a beat. Smiling at him, she replied, "To be honest, those were for Shinozaki-san. But when we came up with the idea, I figured you needed 'em more!"

"Ah. I see. Thanks again, Shinohara." Yoshiki grinned.

Before too long, there was a slight knock at the door. Everyone in the room froze at the sound. It had been so quick and quiet, Yoshiki wasn't sure if they had all just imagined it. As this thought passed through his mind, a second, louder knock sounded. All heads snapped over to the door.

When everyone continued to sit or stand in silence, a voice rang out. "It's Yui. Open up!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Mayu ran over to the door and unlocked it. She then pulled it open to reveal their assistant teacher, who smiled as soon as she saw their faces.

"How's the plan going, everyone?" Yui strode into the room, quickly closing the door behind her and locking it.

"Great, Yui-sensei!" Mayu chirped running back over to the board. As she pointed to it, she continued, "We've got a few ideas now. We just haven't quite figured out how they'll go together."

Yui read over the board thoughtfully, a hand on her chin. She nodded a few times before turning to the group at large. "I see." She then directed her gaze at Yoshiki, who was having a hard time keeping eye contact. "Shinozaki-san will love it!"

His embarrassment levels rising, Yoshiki merely stuttered, "Y-Yui-sensei…"

"Oh!" Yui jolted as a thought struck her. "I almost forgot. I had Shinozaki-san deliver some papers for me on the next floor, but she'll probably be back soon." She clapped her hands. "Let's get all of this cleaned up everyone! We wouldn't want her to figure out our master plan, now would we?"

There were various exclamations of agreement, with everyone moving around to get the room back in order. Satoshi hurried to rearrange chairs and desks. Mayu grabbed the eraser and, in her adrenaline-fueled excitement, attempted to erase the words from the chalkboard. She jumped up multiple times, erasing bits and pieces on each journey. Eventually, Morishige tapped her on the shoulder and wordlessly took the eraser from her, doing the job himself.

Seiko and Naomi went about unlocking the doors to the classroom and opening them in order to get rid of suspicion. Meanwhile, Yoshiki merely stood up, not having any other job to do.

After the room was back in its original form, Yui sat down at her desk and slung off her bag, dropping it at her feet. She bent down to rummage through it, saying, "Alright, everyone. It's time for all of you to go home." She straightened up, holding a stack of papers in her hands. "I've got some assignments to grade."

"Oh hey." Seiko ran over to her, looking over her shoulder. "Is this the English homework we just did? How'd I do?"

Yui merely shook her head and laughed. "I haven't even graded them yet, Shinohara-san. But I'm sure you've done just fine."

"Good! Oh yeah. Ignore the brown smudge." She grinned sheepishly. "I was chasing one of my brothers around the house to get him in the bath, and I had to tempt him with chocolate."

"Uh huh. That's _totally_ what that _brown_ smudge is," Naomi teased, walking up next to her.

"Naomi! What else would it be?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Besides," Satoshi interrupted, walking over to stand in front of Yui's desk. "Why were you carrying your homework around while you were chasing your brother with chocolate? Wouldn't it have been easier to just put it down?"

Seiko laughed. "I never back down from a challenge!" After this, she rubbed the back of her head. "Plus, we'd just spilled juice all over the table, and I didn't want it to get on my homework."

Morishige shook his head. "It seems as though you're living in a perpetual state of entropy."

"Wha –?"

Before Seiko could finish her question, a knock on the wall sounded. Just as before, everyone turned to look at who was interrupting them. This time, it was Ayumi, who currently had her bag slung over her shoulder, and was looking at the group with a raised eyebrow, foot taping impatiently. "Are you guys all ready to go home? I figured you would be dragging me out the door by now. Instead I find you arguing about homework." She rolled her eyes. "I had no idea that grades meant so much to all of you!"

"Excuse me, class rep –"

"I know, Morishige-kun. I was surprised about everyone _except_ you." Ayumi giggled.

"Are you implying something about the rest of us, Shinozaki-san?" Seiko huffed sarcastically, crossing her arms in a failed attempt to look angry and intimidating. Satoshi and Naomi chuckled at her behavior.

Ayumi rolled her eyes playfully. "Not so much implying as actually stating it." Her expression turned into one of confusion as everyone around her gasped slightly. When her friend group started to look between her and Yoshiki with shocked looks on their faces, she spoke up, "What's going on, everyone? Did I say something strange?" She seemed to realize something. All of a sudden, she waved her hands in front of her face. "I-I never said that Kishinuma-kun was dumb or anything close to that! Why are you looking at him like that?"

Yoshiki himself knew the reason, and he was slightly stunned as well. " _She said the same exact thing that I did just a few minutes ago… I wonder if that means anything… Maybe something like… us being connected somehow…_ " At this thought, Yoshiki's face began to redden slightly. " _Gah! I really am hopeless sometimes. I've got it bad…_ "

Finally, Mayu spoke up to disrupt the somewhat awkward silence. "Hey, Shinozaki-san. You didn't happen to overhear a lot of our… argument over homework, did you?"

Ayumi tilted her head. "Not really. Why?"

Yoshiki decided to step in before Mayu unintentionally gave away their plan by acting suspicious. She was already playing with the hem of her skirt slightly, and Ayumi was eyeing her suspiciously. " _Again,_ " He thought, mildly surprised, " _just like me with Shinohara. I wonder if it's always been like this, or if I'm just noticing a lot now._ " Yoshiki cleared his throat in order to get Ayumi's attention, as well as to calm his own nerves to return his face to a natural color. "Shinozaki. We… just find what you said odd because I said something similar to Morishige a couple minutes ago." He scratched the back of his head. "In the same way too. It was just kinda… shocking."

Ayumi looked over at him with a peculiar expression. Her face resembled one of curiosity, with her blue eyes wide and her mouth open in small 'o' shape. All of that combined with her still-titled head gave her the appearance of an interested puppy, not quite comprehending what was going on, but looking adorable anyway. That puppy-dog look alone sent Yoshiki's heart into overdrive. " _Gah… everything she does is just… so… cute!_ "

However, this look only lasted for a few seconds before she regained her normal expression. Ayumi smirked at Yoshiki and quipped, "Oh. So now I'm sounding just like Kishinuma-kun? That's not weird at all."

The friend group seemed to let go of a collective breath in an unnoticeable sigh that no one had any idea that they had been holding. Everyone chuckled at Ayumi's remark, all of the earlier tension gone.

"Ah! Shinohara-san. I just finished up with grading your assignment." Everyone looked over to see their teacher holding up a slightly crumpled up sheet of paper with a red grade at the top. Yoshiki was surprised. He had thought that Yui had been interacting with the rest of them, but she had apparently been grading papers this whole time.

Seiko jumped a bit, clearly anxious and excited to see what she had earned. "Ah! What did I get?"

Yui smiled and handed over the paper to her eager student. "Well… you were between an A and a B, but I figured it's almost Christmas, so I went ahead and gave you the A." Yui winked at her. "Let's just pretend that you didn't spell cat with a k."

As Seiko took her paper, speechless, Naomi looked over her shoulder to see the assignment as well. "Geez, Seiko. You really can't spell at all. That's not even a difficult English word!" She knocked her head into her best friend's slightly. "I don't even know how you got an A. You practically spelled everything wrong!"

Before the inevitable argument could begin, Ayumi clapped her hands to get her classmates' attention. "We can discuss Shinohara-san's abominable spelling on the way home, you guys. We won't get home until midnight at this rate."

Yoshiki grinned, seeing a chance to tease her. "Actually, Shinozaki, it's only 3:30. We'd have to walk pretty slowly to get home at midnight."

Ayumi turned to him, a slight glare on her face. "You know what I mean, Kishinuma-kun! Geez…" She turned away with her back towards him.

Yoshiki chuckled at her behavior. Her irritable looks and tones never upset him and usually brought a grin to his face. All of her reactions were adorable to him, and the more annoyed she got, the more he wanted to tease her to continue getting those reactions.

" _Heh… Shinozaki…_ "

"Alright! Let's go, everyone!" Mayu ran to the door next to Ayumi, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

As everyone more or less followed Mayu and Ayumi out of the door and into the hallway (with the group saying a collective goodbye to their teacher), Yoshiki adjusted the bag on his shoulder and grinned to himself.

He looked from the bag to Ayumi, who was currently in front of him and therefore still had her back to him. The art materials were securely stored inside with the rest of his school supplies, but he still walked more carefully than he usually did to prevent any damage. In his mind, he began to imagine just how he would go about drawing a picture of her, and the thought made him both nervous and excited.

" _Shinozaki…_ " Yoshiki looked up again at Ayumi, who was currently laughing and talking with a chipper Mayu beside her. " _I hope you like your present._ "

* * *

 _And I hope you liked this story!_

 _Now, according to my own master plan, this story (which will be a two-parter) will be updated tomorrow on Christmas. I figured having the preparation up on Christmas Eve and then having the actual resolution on Christmas Day would make the story seem like it was happening in real time._

 _Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!_


	2. How to Do It

Disclaimer: _I do not own Corpse Party._

 _Here is the continuation of this story. The image of Ayumi that I based Yoshiki's illustration off of is the one from Blood Drive (again,_ _HUGE SPOILERS_ _here, so do not continue to read this if you haven't finished the game yet) where Yoshiki and Ayumi both appear in the picture with the rest of their friends and Yui before they fade away._

 _These descriptions of Ayumi are also more based on her behavior from Blood Drive, as she is much more mature than in the previous games due to being forced to grow up quickly. They are also slightly exaggerated, but that reflects Yoshiki's feelings towards her._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Drawn to You

Chapter Two: How to Do It

It was finally finished.

After four painstaking days of rough drafts, edits, final drafts, and _final_ final drafts, Yoshiki's drawing of Ayumi was complete.

Once this realization hit him, Yoshiki slowly dropped the art pencil onto the ground, hand too numb to perform any other precise movements like setting it carefully down somewhere on his desk.

"It's finally done." Yoshiki massaged his drawing hand with his free one, hearing the audible snaps and pops of his joints settling back into place after such an extended period of use. "Let's see how it looks."

Having stared at the paper for the past two hours, Yoshiki figured he would have to get a fresh look at the drawing to see what it really looked like to someone who would be receiving it.

Namely, Ayumi.

"Ah. Here we go." Yoshiki slowly closed his eyes, trying to rid his mind of the image that appeared on the paper before him. He sat there for about a minute, but the face of the girl he loved was still there.

" _I wonder if it's just from staring at it for so long… or if it's just what I see whenever I close my eyes._ " He snorted. "Knock it off, man," he said to himself, shaking his head slightly. "You're starting to sound really creepy."

After another minute had passed with the image only slightly receding, Yoshiki figured he might as well open his eyes. As he did so, he blinked several times to adjust to the lighting in his room before looking down at the paper before him.

He saw what he expected to see. The image of the head and shoulders of Ayumi Shinozaki appeared before him, her smile calm and content. He knew that most of the time, her smile was bright and cheery, but it was smiles like the one he drew that he loved the most. It wasn't like her other smiles were fake, but to Yoshiki, it was the expression of serenity that demonstrated her true personality.

Determined.

If there was one word that Yoshiki would use to describe Ayumi, it would be that. Her smiles and jokes were all well and good, and they demonstrated her love of life. But in the few quiet moments that he had shared with her, Yoshiki saw Ayumi as an individual who would never give up fighting for what she believed in, especially when it came to her friends and family.

Her outgoing exterior drew Yoshiki in, but it was her internal, stubborn determination to have morality and humility prevail that kept him captivated. It was this drive that inspired her to come to his aid that long time ago, Yoshiki was sure. In fact, during that confrontation with the teacher, she had acted happy and just like the typical stellar student. But in the end, her anger at the teacher's cruelty and irritation at Yoshiki's potential school-ending behavior shone through. Even then, when she hadn't even known him, she had looked out for his well-being.

He liked to think that, should anything dangerous ever befall the two of them, he would do anything in his power to look out for her as well, even going so far as to protect her. He couldn't determine how she would react, but he had a feeling that, when push came to shove, she would rise above the fear and protect him as well, albeit in a different way.

But it wasn't just her smile that showed off both her inner and external beauty. Yoshiki grinned as he looked over the rest of his picture, Ayumi's eyes and hair catching his attention.

Her blue eyes and hair dazzled him. However, just like her smile, the two were not glaringly obvious and bright. Both were a darker shade of blue, like the evening sky became just before the sun faded out and created black. Her coloring enticed him because it was so different from all of the other girls at school.

Yoshiki had also heard from somewhere that blue was the color of calm, truth, faith, loyalty, and wisdom, all qualities that Ayumi embodied. She was smart as a whip, yet she did not flaunt it as many people would. She was always loyal to her friends, and she would do anything to help them out if they needed it. And finally, though she was not always level-headed (especially when Yoshiki teased her), she would turn calm when it was necessary.

Being somewhat unimaginative, Yoshiki had drawn Ayumi in her school uniform, as that was what he saw her in 99 percent of the time. Still, due to most of the image being dedicated to her face, much of the uniform did not even show.

Yoshiki looked at the paper for a moment longer before leaning back in his chair and heaving a heavy sigh. "Ah. Pretty simple for spending such a long time on it. Oh well. It looks surprisingly like Shinozaki, so at least she won't be disgusted by it." He sat straight up in his chair. "The only obstacle now is giving it to her and actually… confessing." He chuckled. "Yeah, no problem. _This_ was the easy part, and this took all week! Now I've gotta do the hardest part tomorrow in a span of five minutes."

Sighing, Yoshiki slowly pushed himself away from his desk and turned off the lamp, not wanting his illustration to be exposed to light any longer than it had to. Ayumi had lectured him once about the effects light could have on paper and how it could fade colors, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"Let's see. I just have to wrap it now." He glanced at the clock and stretched. "But it's getting kinda late, and I don't wanna be falling asleep in class tomorrow. I don't want Shinozaki to yell at me… though after I give her this present, it's pretty much fair game for that."

He chuckled at the thought as he stood up, pushing his chair in and kicking the pencil underneath his desk. He was a lot less careful with the materials now that he was done with them, but he also didn't want to put it on the table and risk having it roll onto the completed image, smearing it. He would pick it up tomorrow.

Yoshiki quickly pulled out his pajamas and changed into them, depositing his other clothes onto his dresser. He walked over to the light switch and flipped it off, enveloping the room in darkness.

As Yoshiki strode back over to his bed and settled in, he could hear the loud beeps and engines of the construction equipment just outside his window. He groaned.

"Man. I thought they'd be done by now. It's almost Christmas!" He rolled onto his side away from the window, which helped to quiet the sounds slightly.

" _Oh well,_ " he thought to himself, closing his eyes. " _I'll fall asleep eventually, and I'll get to give Shinozaki her present._ " He smiled. " _See ya tomorrow, Shinozaki._ "

& The Next Day &

"Oi, Yoshiki! Time to go to school!" Yoshiki grumbled at his Satoshi alarm clock, which was jarringly loud as usual. The situation did not improve when a continuous hammering started at his door.

"Gah. What the hell is with him?" Yoshiki slowly pushed the covers off of himself and stood up, stretching. He looked at the clock and was shocked to see that Satoshi was almost an hour early. Once he realized this, he deliberately took his time changing into his school uniform, wanting his friend to suffer for interrupting his much-needed sleep.

Satoshi continued to knock on the door, and this was interspersed with calls of "Yoshiki! Wake up!" or "Are you dead? Let's go!"

Before too long, Yoshiki slammed open the door, glaring at his friend. "Where the hell's the fire? Why are you here so early, man?"

Satoshi smiled sheepishly. "Well, Naomi said that it'd be a good idea to wake you up early so that you'd have time to finish up your present for Shinozaki." He rubbed the back of his head. "So, long story short, after getting up an hour earlier myself and stumbling up the steps a few times because I'm still half-asleep, here I am." He spread his arms wide in a 'ta da' motion.

Yoshiki raised an eyebrow. "Okay, a few things. One, Nakashima has you totally whipped." As Satoshi spluttered, Yoshiki continued on. "Two, you guys must have no faith in me because I finished the drawing last night." He smiled. "This isn't like all my other school assignments. This is really important to me, so I got it done early."

Satoshi's spluttering stopped almost immediately, which was slightly unnerving to Yoshiki. He then developed a shocked look on his face. "Wow. Congrats, Yoshiki. Shinozaki would approve of that can-do attitude herself."

Yoshiki blushed. "O-oi…"

His friend seemed not to have heard him. Turning around, he said, "Then get packed up and let's go!"

Yoshiki laughed. "Go where? We'd be an hour early to school. Screw that." He walked back into his room and plopped down on the bed, not really having anything to do because it was so early, but not wanting to go to school either.

Satoshi turned back around and walked into his friend's room, closing the door behind him. He himself pulled out the chair at Yoshiki's desk and sat down, facing him. "Well I don't know. I guess we could just hang out here for an hour."

"Hmpf. Yeah. Good answer." Yoshiki reached over to his bag at the foot of his bed and looked in it, making sure that he had everything he would need for the day.

While he did this, Satoshi looked around the room in silence, still slightly in a daze from having been up so early. Eventually, his gaze settled on Yoshiki's desk, where the picture of Ayumi still sat. "Hey, Yoshiki," he exclaimed, looking over the illustration. "This drawing of Shinozaki is really good."

Yoshiki snapped his head up, looking at Satoshi with a startled expression. "Oi! Don't look at that! That's for Shinozaki's eyes only!" He marched over to his friend and yanked the chair back, pulling him away from the desk.

"G-geez, Yoshiki! It was just a compliment. Besides," he laughed, straightening his uniform from its disarray after the sudden movement, "it's not like you drew her _nude_ or anything."

At that, Yoshiki blushed bright red, heat radiating from his face. " _Satoshi_ ," he muttered, standing in between him and the desk. "I would _never_ draw that. That's just sick." The thought had never even crossed his mind, and he felt nauseous just thinking about it.

Satoshi chuckled. "I know, I know. I was just kidding. You're not that kind of guy." He stood up and sat down on Yoshiki's recently vacated bed. His face turned serious. "But really, Yoshiki. Shinozaki is going to love it."

"Eh heh. Thanks, man." Yoshiki rubbed the back of his head, looking down at Ayumi's smiling face. It seemed to unconsciously give him strength, just like Ayumi Shinozaki herself.

He turned to face Satoshi again. "Now you just sit tight. I didn't have time to make lunch because of this present last night, so I'm gonna make it and then wrap the drawing up. Then we can go."

Satoshi nodded. "Got it."

& At School &

As Yoshiki and Satoshi entered the classroom to get ready for their last day of school before winter break, they noticed that all of their friends (minus Ayumi) were once again gathered around the former's desk, apparently awaiting their arrival.

Even Yui was standing with the group, and, being the most observant out of everyone, she was the one who looked up at the pair's arrival and exclaimed, "Kishinuma-kun. Mochida-kun. Good morning!"

"Hey, Kishinuma-kun! Ya got the present?" Seiko shouted as Yoshiki and Satoshi walked up to the group, a bright smile on her face.

"K-keep it down, Shinohara!" Yoshiki made a hushing motion with his hands, his face going red.

"Of course he does. I made sure of it." Satoshi chuckled and took a seat next to Naomi, the two of them smiling at each other and blushing slightly.

Mayu smiled kindly at Yoshiki as he took his seat at his desk, slumping. "You look awfully tired, Kishinuma-kun. I'm sure Shinozaki-san will love all of the effort that you put in!"

Yoshiki gave a begrudging smile in return. "Thanks, Suzumoto. That means a lot."

"Very well then," Morishige said, positioning his glasses. "Now that everyone is here, we should discuss how we will enact Kishinuma's plan to confess to the class rep."

"Speaking of which," Naomi pondered, looking around. "Where _is_ the class rep? It's not like her to be later than all of us. She's always the first one here and the last one to leave."

Surprised at this, Yoshiki spluttered. "W-what do you mean? You guys haven't distracted her again with something to keep her away from our planning sessions?"

Satoshi spoke up. "No. The only time we distracted her was Monday afternoon when we came up with everything." He then looked down, clearly thinking. "In fact, she's been later than us every day this week. I wonder what's up."

"Hmm… I'm not sure. But whatever the case may be, we shouldn't question it." Yui clapped her hands. "We've got to come up with a plan for Kishinuma-kun, everyone!"

"Aye aye!" Seiko saluted, everyone else following suit.

"Actually, Yui-sensei, I have thought of something." Mayu raised her hand slightly, a somewhat shy look on her face.

"Ah. Good, Suzumoto-san." Yui giggled. "But there's no need to raise your hand. We're not in class yet."

"Aw! Suzume-chan! You're just so _cute_!" Seiko leaned over in her seat and gave the startled girl a squeeze.

Mayu squeaked slightly, her face going red. "S-Shinohara-san!"

Naomi chuckled and pried Seiko off, slapping her shoulder slightly. "Seiko. Not everyone is used to your constant man-handling like me."

"A-anyway," Mayu continued, her face returning to its normal hue. "I was thinking that Yui-sensei could send Kishinuma-kun and Shinozaki-san upstairs to deliver some papers to a teacher after school." She smiled, thinking through it. "Then, once they do that, Kishinuma-kun could casually walk over to the window that overlooks the school and exchange presents with Shinozaki-san there." Mayu looked over at Yoshiki, her eyes bright. "It'll be later in the day, so the sun will just be starting to set. Then you would confess and see what happens!"

Yoshiki was impressed. "That's a pretty good plan that you just came up with in the spur of the moment, Suzumoto-san." He rubbed his chin in thought. "It's pretty simple, but it sounds like it could work."

"Aw man!" Seiko moaned dramatically. "That was the shortest planning session ever! I didn't even get to suggest having Kishinuma-kun –"

"PG, Seiko. Remember?" Naomi interrupted, preventing the other girl from ruining the momentum with a perverted plan.

"Fine, fine!" Seiko agreed playfully. "Is that what we're gonna go with, then?"

"It's all up to whether or not Kishinuma is content with the plan," Morishige explained. "Our opinions are moot if Kishinuma does not want to follow through."

The boy in question looked around at all of his friends, observing each of their reactions. Seiko and Mayu were beaming at him, waiting expectantly. Morishige's look appeared almost cold and uncaring, but Yoshiki could tell that he was just as eager to see what he would decide. Yui, Satoshi, and Naomi were all looking at him with pleasant, almost knowing smiles on their faces.

" _Which would make sense,_ " he thought to himself. " _Those three are really the only ones with any dating experience. And if they think this plan's alright, then I guess it must be!_ "

Nodding once, Yoshiki said, "Alright. It's the best plan I've heard, so let's go with it!"

Satoshi laughed and punched his shoulder lightly. "It's the _only_ plan you've heard, Yoshiki!"

"Fair point."

"So we're all clear on what you're doing then, right?" Mayu questioned, ensuring everything would go according to plan. "We'll be waiting down here in the classroom."

"But most importantly," Naomi added, looking Yoshiki in the eyes, "just remember that confessions rarely go smoothly. If everything gets screwed up but she still accepts… that's all that matters. In fact, that's even better, because that means she'll love you no matter what happens!"

"Fortunately that's true for Naomi, Mochida-kun," Seiko teased, slapping him on the back.

"Ack!"

"Now then." Yui stood up, beckoning everyone else to do the same. "Let's get into our seats for class, everyone! Shinozaki-san will be suspicious if we're meeting around Kishinuma-kun's desk again."

There were exclamations of agreement at this, and everyone stood up, once again rearranging the room back to its normal look. Yoshiki remained sitting at his desk, as any other action would be strange on his part if Ayumi walked in.

After a few moments of movements, everyone took their regular seats, appearing to all the world like a class eager to start the day, and not at all like a group of friends who had been scheming.

While they all waited for class to actually begin, Yoshiki bent down and opened up his bag, ensuring that his present was still there and in good condition. When his eyes focused in on the package wrapped up in paper with a cute, girlish penguin design (courtesy of his younger sister, Miki), he smiled.

The actual illustration itself was tucked away in a spare folder that Yoshiki had happened to find lying around his apartment. Luckily, it had been untouched, so it was in pristine condition and was therefore able to contain the drawing without getting anything on it. After he had carefully placed the drawing into the folder, he had wrapped that in the wrapping paper so that he would not have to tape onto the actual illustration, which would have ruined it for sure.

" _Hopefully… Shinozaki will like it._ " Yoshiki gave himself a small nod to reassure himself before he carefully took out what he would need for the day, closing the bag after he was finished. From past experience at Kisaragi, Yoshiki knew that the teachers would be very lax with their teaching and assignments today, as they desired no more busywork than the students themselves did. Still, he had to at least put on the appearance of a capable student today. He wanted to make sure to look as good as possible in front of Ayumi.

As soon as he had placed everything onto his desk, the missing girl herself walked into the room, with only a minute to spare. She seemed to be out of breath as she quickly skirted around the student desks to approach Yui.

"Yui-sensei! I'm so sorry that I'm late. There's been a lot going on at my house lately, with Christmas around the corner." Ayumi said all of this in a rush, and when she finished, she took quick, shallow breaths, evidently trying to remain as polite as possible by not gulping down as much air as she could.

Yui smiled at Ayumi, seemingly humored by her student's worry. "You're not late at all, Shinozaki-san. Merely on time. With your track record, it's no issue." Then, Yui tilted her head at her student, obviously concerned. "But I have to ask you… are you alright? You seem really out of breath."

Ayumi nodded quickly. "Y-yeah. I just ran all the way here so I'd make it on time. Looks like I did." She gave a weak smile.

Yui gave her student a reassuring smile. "That you did. Now go sit down at your desk before you collapse."

Ayumi nodded again. "Yes, Yui-sensei." With that, the girl walked over to her desk and sat down, just as the school bell rang, signaling class.

Meanwhile, Yoshiki was observing all of this with a concerned expression. " _Damn,_ " he thought to himself. " _I was gonna talk to Shinozaki to kinda see what mood she's in to figure out how to act around her. But class is starting now. If I interrupt, especially in the frazzled mood she's in… the results will not be pretty._ "

Instead, he sighed and leaned forward onto his hands, still watching Ayumi. He could she her shoulders rising up and down rapidly, evidently still catching her breath. " _She must have run all the way here from home,_ " he mused. " _I've gotta say, that's not really the kinda image Shinozaki wants to maintain as class rep. I wonder what's going on…_ "

As the teacher began the lecture, Yoshiki noticed Ayumi turn around, glancing about the room. Again, this behavior was somewhat dangerous for the class rep's reputation as she was in the front of the classroom and was clearly not paying attention to the lecture. " _Holiday spirit must be affecting her too._ " Yoshiki chuckled. " _Absolutely no one wants to be here right now._ "

His thoughts ground to a halt when he saw Ayumi catch his gaze. She looked at him with a strange expression on her face. Yoshiki couldn't figure it out. She looked… almost nervous, though he had no idea why that would be.

Wanting to make her feel better after the obviously exhausting start to her day, Yoshiki grinned at her and winked. This was somewhat more daring than what he would usually do, but he figured he might as well start acting suave now to better prepare himself for later that afternoon.

What he did not expect was for Ayumi to blink rapidly before she whipped around and redirected her gaze to the front of the classroom. Yoshiki could have sworn that he had seen the start of a blush on her cheeks, but he wasn't entirely sure that that wasn't just wishful thinking on his part.

" _Heh. Either way, Shinozaki. Prepare to be confessed to… or some other less lame verb._ "

& After School &

It was finally time.

After an entire week of planning (though in reality, Yoshiki had been preparing for this moment for months), it was time to confess his feelings to Ayumi.

He was therefore understandably nervous. His friends had all noticed his jitters and had taken most of the after-school cleaning responsibilities from him. Satoshi himself had snatched a broom away from his friend's hands after he had observed him just staring off into space for almost half a minute.

After this had jolted Yoshiki to his senses, he had shoved a chuckling Satoshi away before directing his gaze back to the front of the room. Ayumi was currently chatting with Yui, most likely about plans for Christmas. The two were pretty close for a student and an assistant teacher, and Yoshiki figured that Ayumi almost saw her as a second sister.

" _I've got this… I've got this…_ "

Yoshiki repeated this mantra in his head, which had only gotten more frantic as the day had gone on. After only an hour, this had been Yoshiki's entire focus, and, try as he might, he could not pay attention to the lectures for the rest of the school day.

The atmosphere of the room currently was one of joy. It was finally winter break, and everyone was eager to get home and get started on joining in the festivities. In fact, many classes were already gone, the students having cleaned their rooms so quickly that they had gotten to leave in record time.

However, Yui's class had lagged somewhat in their duties, mainly because they wanted to make sure that Yoshiki would have enough time to confess. Ayumi herself had stated that she would stay later than usual to make up for her later arrival time.

In order for the plan to begin, Yui had to have Yoshiki and Ayumi deliver papers to a teacher on the third floor. This was the reason why Yoshiki was currently staring the two of them down, waiting for the cue to start.

" _Yui-sensei better do it now, or I might not make it_." Yoshiki breathed in deeply to calm himself, letting the breath go in a silent exhale. " _None of this'll work if I throw up from nerves._ " He gulped.

"Oh yes. Shinozaki-san. I almost forgot." Yoshiki snapped his gaze over to Yui, who was gathering up papers at her desk. His stomach lurched at what this meant. "I'd like you and Kishinuma-kun to deliver these papers –"

She continued to talk, but there was too much blood rushing to Yoshiki's ears for him to hear her clearly. " _Ah… I take it back! I'm not ready! Hold off on the plan!_ " Unfortunately, the group had not devised an abort plan, mainly because they knew that Yoshiki's nerves could very well prevent him from following through. Though he wished he had fought harder for that option now.

" _No… No! I need to do this! If I don't confess now… I never will._ " Though this was somewhat of an exaggeration, Yoshiki used this to propel himself forward to stand next to Ayumi in front of Yui's desk.

"Ah, Kishinuma-kun. Just who I wanted to see." She winked at him, causing him nod once, quickly. "Would you kindly deliver these papers to the teachers on the next floor? Shinozaki-san can fill you in on who." She handed a stack of papers to him.

"Uh… sure." Yoshiki accepted the papers, adjusting them slightly so that he would not drop them.

As the two were about to walk away, Yui exclaimed, "Oh! Hang on, Kishinuma-kun. The top assignment needs this note on it." She opened up a drawer at her desk and pulled out a sticky note that had some writing on it. She quickly attached it to the top of Yoshiki's pile, smiling. "There we go! Thanks so much, you two!"

"Of course, Yui-sensei. We'll be back in no time!" Ayumi turned away and started to head out the door.

"Please. There's no rush. Take your time." Yui's last statement was directed squarely at Yoshiki, who in turn blushed slightly at her insinuation. Before he could follow suit, Yui said quietly, "Kishinuma-kun. You should really look at that note." With that, Yui walked over to Mayu and started up a conversation with her.

Perplexed, Yoshiki looked down at the sticky note. What he saw made him blush:

" _Good luck, Kishinuma! We're all behind you and your almost-girlfriend!_ "

Underneath this message, Yoshiki saw that Yui and all of his friends (minus Ayumi) had signed it. He cleared his throat, trying to get his flushed face under control. He then took the sticky note off and shoved it deep into his pocket to make absolutely sure that Ayumi would not see it.

"Kishinuma-kun?" He looked up to see Ayumi staring at him confusedly in the doorway. "Are you coming or what?"

"Heh. Of course. Lead on, Shinozaki." Yoshiki walked up next to her, awaiting her directions.

"Alright then! Let's go." Ayumi began to walk, and Yoshiki followed behind her.

On the way through the halls and up the stairs, Ayumi informed Yoshiki of the rooms that they were delivering the papers to. Yoshiki listened, though he was having a hard time focusing. They were walking so close together, closer than normal it seemed. Normally, Ayumi would put some distance between herself and others, except for times of hugging and with Mayu, her best friend. This was especially true for her male companions, Yoshiki included.

But now, Ayumi was only centimeters away from him, and Yoshiki could feel himself sweating slightly at the almost contact. " _S-Shinozaki…_ "

By the time the two reached the top of the stairs, Yoshiki was almost glad that they would be separated for the time being to deliver their papers.

"Okay." Ayumi turned to look at Yoshiki, a confident expression on her face. "Let's hand out these papers and meet back here at the top of the steps. Hopefully we'll be done quickly and we can go back downstairs to get ready for our celebration tonight!"

Yoshiki nodded. But then, he realized that he needed Ayumi in front of the windows, which were a fair distance from the stairs. As nonchalantly as he could, Yoshiki said, "Hey, Shinozaki. Why don't we meet up in front of the windows?" He grinned. "That way, whoever's done first can look outside instead of down the bottom of the stairs."

"Hmm…" Ayumi thought, looking over at the windows, the late afternoon sunlight already shining through. "Good idea, Kishinuma-kun. Let's do that!"

"'Kay." Yoshiki righted the stack of papers in his arms. "Betcha I'll be done first!"

Ayumi grinned. "In your dreams!"

Simultaneously, the two exclaimed, "Go!" With that, they headed off to their desired locations, grinning all the while.

Yoshiki sprinted into his classroom and practically flung the papers at the teacher. Before the astonished man could even thank him, Yoshiki had already run out the door over to the windows in the empty hallway.

" _Good,_ " he thought, leaning against the wall. " _No one's here to watch. That would've been awkward…_ " He chuckled at the thought.

As he waited for Shinozaki to return, he took deep calming breaths. He wanted to appear as cool as possible so that Ayumi would be more likely to accept him. A stuttering, sweaty mess would not have looked attractive to anyone.

Figuring he might as well enjoy his time before the stressful event occurred, Yoshiki stuck his hands in his pockets and looked out the window. From here, he could see the courtyard where the students entered the school, and he saw that many were already streaming out past the gates. The red glow of the sun gave everything a calm feel, something that Yoshiki needed desperately.

" _Beautiful,_ " he thought, watching the sunlight bathe the trees in a golden-red hue. " _But not as beautiful as –_ "

"Kishinuma-kun!"

Speak of the devil.

Yoshiki turned his head and found Ayumi, who was standing a few feet away, smiling at him. Her eyes were bright, and her hand was casually holding the strap of her bag. Watching her with the light reflected from the sun was almost too much for Yoshiki to take in all at once.

Taking another deep breath, Yoshiki said, "Looks like I beat ya."

Ayumi snorted and walked over to Yoshiki, establishing a polite distance between them. Not being able to lean on anything (as leaning on the window itself was highly inadvisable), she merely stood there and looked up at Yoshiki. "That's because I made an effort to appear somewhat dignified."

"Oh yeah?" Yoshiki quipped, smirking down at her.

"Yes. Unlike you, I have a reputation to uphold."

Yoshiki chuckled. "I've got a reputation. Just… one that's a little different."

Ayumi rolled her eyes. "That much I know." She looked down at the scene that Yoshiki had just been observing, her smile melting from a grin to one of serene contentment, the one that always made Yoshiki's stomach do backflips, as was the case now.

"Anyway, we should probably get back to Yui-sensei and the others. I don't want them to think we got lost up here or something." She turned away from the window and started to walk away.

"Hey, Shinozaki."

Ayumi paused, turning back around to face Yoshiki.

"Yes?"

Yoshiki swallowed. " _Now or never, man_." He smiled at Ayumi, a genuine smile, to try and put both of them at ease. "I… wanted to give you your Christmas present now. If that'd be okay." He used all of his willpower to prevent the blush on his neck from spreading up to his face, keeping his eyes on Ayumi's eyes all the while.

Ayumi tiled her head slightly, but she took a step closer. "Why not at the party later tonight?"

Yoshiki chuckled nervously. "Because… it's kinda… special."

Ayumi looked at him with the same puppy-dog expression she had the other day. Again, she took a step closer so that she was now where she had been when the two had started their conversation. "Special how?" She asked in gentle voice, almost a whisper.

"Uh…" Yoshiki mentally slapped himself at his response. But he had to keep going. "It's… well… just look for yourself. I think it'll answer your question." After he said this, he reached down into his bag, being somewhat thankful that he had the chance to break eye-contact with Ayumi. He picked up the present and held it out to her. "Here ya go."

Ayumi looked into his eyes, almost as if she was trying to read his thoughts. Yoshiki continued to stand there, holding out his present. Eventually, Ayumi looked down at the gift and took it from him gently, running her hand over it.

"It's pretty cute for you, Kishinuma."

Yoshiki jolted slightly at the drop of the usual honorific. He wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but he didn't question it. "Heh. Yeah, Miki picked out the wrapping paper for me. She's always giving me girly stuff."

Ayumi giggled slightly. "She cares about you a lot, doesn't she?"

Yoshiki stuttered, "Y-yeah."

After a few moments of silence, Ayumi began to unwrap the paper, peeling off the tape at one of the corners. Before too long, she had removed the wrapping completely, and she crumpled it up and handed it to Yoshiki, who lobbed it at a nearby trashcan, not thinking about recycling at the moment.

She stared at the folder for a moment, and in that moment, Yoshiki could feel his heartbeat quicken. " _Geez… just open it already!_ "

The moment this passed through his mind, Ayumi slowly opened up the folder and looked at what was inside.

It was at this point that Yoshiki stopped breathing. " _This is it…_ " He returned his hands to his pockets, one gripping the note from his friends tightly. He had never been this nervous before in his entire life, even during this past week when they had all planned this.

Planning it was much different than actually enacting it.

A little gasp from Ayumi brought his attention back to the situation at hand. Looking at her face, she seemed genuinely shocked, and it was obvious that she was not expecting anything of the sort from him.

Yoshiki gave her a few moments to look at the drawing. As she stared at it, he watched her, trying to see any other reactions. He saw her eyes slowly drift around the page, lingering at some points before moving on to the rest of the image. She carefully took the paper out of the sleeve and set it down onto the folder so that she could see the entire image at once.

Before too long, the blue eyes he admired so much focused on his. She was now gazing at him with a lost expression. "Wha…" She cleared her throat. "What… when… did you…?"

Yoshiki wasn't sure what to do. Ayumi hadn't really asked him a coherent question, but he didn't want to say nothing. Especially because Ayumi was now looking at him expectantly, waiting for a response.

"Uh… Well it's a drawing of you." He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Obvious right?" He was slightly unnerved when Ayumi's expression didn't change, even at his small attempt at humor. She continued to stare at him, still waiting for more of an explanation.

"But when? Well… I've been working on it all week. Every day after school and work." He took a hand out of one of his pockets and rubbed the back of his head, looking out the window. "It took a while and a lot of attempts… and it's not like anything you could make… but… I hope you like it, Shinozaki."

At this point, Yoshiki knew for a fact that the blush that he had been working so hard on concealing was now painfully obvious on his face. " _Great,_ " he thought to himself. " _I haven't even confessed yet and I'm a mess…_ "

Then suddenly, Yoshiki felt two arms wrap around his sides and back before he was slightly pulled forward. He complied, somewhat stunned, as he realized that Ayumi was hugging him, which had only ever happened a few times before and always in the context of a group hug.

He felt her smaller, warmer body pressing into his, and the arms around him gripped tighter, almost as if she had no plans on letting him go. Even her hands on the back of his school jacket held fast to him.

Being so much shorter than Yoshiki, Ayumi had turned her head slightly and had rested it on his chest. It was at this point that Yoshiki realized that he was awkwardly standing there and not returning her embrace. Slowly and carefully, he lifted up his arms and wrapped them around the small of her back, squeezing slightly.

The two of them stood like this for several moments, and Yoshiki had a jumble of emotions running through him at this point. He was extremely ecstatic that the girl of his dreams was hugging him and not letting go, but he was also incredibly nervous because he had no idea what any of this meant.

" _Is this… a friendly hug? A romantic hug? Geez… girls are really confusing sometimes…_ "

Somewhat testing out the waters, Yoshiki slowly began to rub his hands up and down her back, petting through her hair occasionally. Her grip on him tightened, so he counted that as a good sign.

"Kishinuma?" Yoshiki felt Ayumi's head move off of his chest, and he looked down to see her staring up at him, her face completely red. The voice itself had been a whisper, a seemingly fragile sound that he could barely hear.

He was sure that his face was just as red at this point, but he answered anyway. "Yes?"

She smiled at him. "Thank you. I love it."

"Heh." He took one hand off of Ayumi's back and pat her head slightly, smiling. "That's great, Shinozaki." He continued to slowly stroke the top of her head, and Ayumi didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, after their verbal exchange, she sighed and leaned her head back onto his chest, squeezing his back slightly.

" _This… feels really good actually._ " Though still aware of the heat in his face, Yoshiki felt the warmth travel through his face and into his chest, making him feel giddy. " _She's… just so warm…_ "

The two stood in silence again, with Yoshiki rubbing one hand on her back, and the other on her head and through her hair. He in turn felt her hands slowly making circles on his back.

But before too long, her hands stilled, and she lifted her head from his chest. Yoshiki froze at this sudden shift, and then he felt her start to pull away. Somewhat disappointed, but wanting Shinozaki to be comfortable, he let go of her as she took a step back.

" _And just what was that all about?_ " Yoshiki was completely mystified at this point. That hug had seemed entirely romantic, but then she had retreated.

He looked at her face, and he saw that it was still red. She wasn't looking at him, but rather at the ledge jutting out from under the window. He followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at her gift, which was neatly placed on the space. She seemed to be considering something.

"Shinozaki?" Yoshiki whispered, wondering what was amiss.

She looked back up at him, a determined look in her eyes. "Kishinuma… do you know the significance of this place?"

Taken for a loop at the sudden topic change, Yoshiki merely stuttered, "Uh… n-no?"

Ayumi smiled as she faced the window. The same serene smile as before graced her lips as the golden light of the sun reflected off of her face. "I had a conversation with Yui-sensei once, about a boy she dated when she was in school." Yoshiki nodded slowly, not really seeing where this was going. "She told me that she would meet with him up on the third floor near some windows that overlooked the school and much of the town. They'd just go to this spot and hold hands, nothing else. Right in the spot that we're at now." She turned to look at him, and he felt his heart throb at sight of the tender look she was giving him.

"They never even kissed, she told me. But they would hold hands, and she would feel complete, like the two of them were connected." She giggled. "She admitted that it was nothing like relationships of today that are all hot and passionate, but I thought it sounded wonderful." She sighed. "A nice, modest love. It was something that I always wanted."

"And then," she looked Yoshiki squarely in the eyes. " _You_ walked into the room, Kishinuma. To hand Yui-sensei the daily roster or something. And I yelled at you to get out."

Yoshiki nodded slightly, remembering that day that had happened only a few months ago. "Heh. You _had_ seemed oddly flustered."

Ayumi blushed slightly. "Y-yeah. Well anyway, once you left, Yui-sensei talked about how you were a nice boy. And I didn't really get the connection. Not until… a few weeks ago really."

Yoshiki tilted his head, confused. "What connection? And what do you mean by a few weeks ago?"

Ayumi reached out and took his hand gently, interlocking her fingers in his. "That you were special. To me. And by a few weeks, I mean when Mochida-kun and Nakashima-san started going out."

"O-oh yeah." Yoshiki didn't know what else to say as jealousy boiled up within him from remembering her reactions towards the couple. But she seemed to be giving him attention now, especially with the hand-holding.

"I saw them and I thought about how it wasn't fair that they got together. But then I realized… I wasn't upset because of Mochida-kun, which I had initially thought was the problem." She gently took up Yoshiki's other hand, interlocking those fingers as well. "I was upset because I didn't have a relationship with the person that I liked." She squeezed his hands. "Every time I looked over at them, I realized that they were so complete and in love, and I… wanted that." Swinging their hands slightly, she giggled. "Not their relationship, but _a_ relationship… with someone… in particular…"

When Yoshiki heard this, he realized what was going on. Ayumi had been jealous of the _relationship_ , not of Naomi getting his best friend. An enormous weight seemed to be lifted off of his shoulders, but then, another concern came crashing down. " _Is Shinozaki… seriously confessing right now?_ " He could feel tears starting to prick at the corners of his eyes from all of these emotions hitting him at once. " _But hold on!_ I've _gotta confess. After all of this…_ "

Yoshiki squeezed her hands, effectively cutting off her momentum. "Shinozaki… before you say anything else… I've gotta tell you something."

Ayumi blinked once, but then smiled serenely at him. "What would that be, Kishinuma?" she asked gently.

"I-I... What I'm trying to say is…" Breathing out heavily, Yoshiki raised their hands in front of them and shouted, "I LOVE YOU, SHINOZAKI!"

Ayumi gasped, wide-eyed and blushing. "K-Kishinuma…?" She muttered weakly.

He squeezed her hands even more, letting his anxiety flow out. "I've loved you… for a really long time now. I've admired your spirit… your determination… everything! I just always thought that you liked Satoshi… so I never… said anything." He laughed. "But there was no way in _hell_ that I'd do nothing about it! So… I just wanted you to know that… I love you _so_ much, Shinozaki. And I always will."

After his declaration, Yoshiki was literally heaving deep breaths of air, his face practically on fire with how hot it was. " _I… I did it!_ " He cheered internally. " _Dear God… that was the most difficult thing I've ever done. Now we'll finally see…_ "

Yoshiki looked at Ayumi's face, which was still completely shocked. She did not even blink, but merely moved her lips, looking somewhat like a dying fish gasping for air.

But then, she blinked a few times and seemed to calm down. Her gape turned into a completely giddy smile. "Kishinuma," she said, squeezing his hands tightly. "I… would like to give you my present as well."

"H-huh?" Yoshiki was having trouble comprehending anything right now, as he was now using his remaining brain power to keep from passing out right on the spot.

"Please." Ayumi gently tugged her hands away from Yoshiki's and reached into her bag, never once losing eye contact with him. After some rummaging, she pulled out a square-shaped package with candy-cane wrapping paper meticulously concealing its contents.

She held out the object, shyly avoiding his eyes as she did so. "T-this is for you, Kishinuma. I hope you like it."

His hands now empty, Yoshiki took the package silently. Over the past week, he had expected a whole range of things to have happened when he had confessed. That Ayumi would look at him in disgust before walking away. That she would sadly tell him that she was in love with Satoshi and not him. That, if by some miracle she had accepted, would throw her arms around him and say she loved him back. What he had not expected was for her to say nothing about it and then just hand him a present.

" _Well,_ " he thought to himself as he began to undo the wrapping. " _The hugging part already happened. Maybe the other part will come later._ "

After confirming this to himself, Yoshiki actually found himself extremely curious as to what Ayumi's present would be. The package itself had some heft to it, and it was extremely square.

Before too long, he had unwrapped the gift completely, and had dropped the wrapping paper unceremoniously onto the ground. That could wait until later.

Right now, he focused on what was in front of him.

In extremely exquisite detail, there in his hands was a portrait of himself, grinning cockily at whoever was viewing it. His expression was almost lifelike, and Yoshiki would have thought he had been gazing into a mirror if he hadn't known that he was not grinning himself. In fact, at the moment, all he could muster was an open mouth, his jaw literally hanging open in shock.

"S-Shinozaki… t-this…" Yoshiki couldn't even finish his sentence. He couldn't believe that she had drawn him too. He merely continued to stare at the drawing, observing all of the minute details. The portrait itself was of him crossing his arms on top of a desk. " _My desk at school…_ " he realized. He then looked at the school jacket that he always wore. The article of clothing itself was extremely detailed, as he could see little wrinkles here and there that made the outfit look like it was actually hanging off of his body. His jacket was slightly open like always, with his red shirt peeking through.

But it was the life-like face that mostly captivated him.

Having glanced at it before, he looked at it again more closely and saw himself grinning, with pristine white teeth almost shining back at him. His eyes were an enticing blue, and his hair was messy and blonde. There was a tan wall behind him, which made his figure stand out that much more.

The entire illustration was contained in a heavy-duty frame, which explained its previous heft. It was black and made of wood, with ornate flowers carved into it. There was also a glass sheet in front of it, preserving the image underneath and preventing it from getting smeared. Near the bottom was Ayumi's signature, with a little heart next to it.

Yoshiki was not a well-spoken individual, so he knew that one whom was better with words (like Morishige) would have been able to go on about all of the different properties that this exhibited. But he didn't care that he couldn't articulate it.

He absolutely loved it. Words couldn't express it for him.

"This," he began, trying not to become too choked up, "is absolutely beautiful, Shinozaki. Thank you."

He looked up to see Ayumi looking at him with a sheepish look on her face. "You… didn't see the message at the bottom, did you?"

"Huh?" After her words, Yoshiki looked back down at the drawing. There was a short sentence in a neat scrawl that could only be Ayumi's. When he read it, his heart stopped.

" _Merry Christmas, Kishinuma! I love you._ "

Once he had calmed himself down and had restarted his heart, he snapped his head back up to Ayumi, who was blushing from ear to ear. "Shinozaki…?"

Ayumi responded somewhat meekly, "I… was planning on giving this to you tonight at the party. I knew how I felt about you as soon as I realized how jealous I was of Mochida-kun's and Nakashima-san's relationship. I was jealous… because I wanted _you_ to be giving me those lovesick looks. I wanted _you_ to hold my hand and tell me that you… love me…" She laughed. "God… I must sound really cheesy right now. But you were faster than me twice today, Kishinuma. Delivering papers and… confessing."

Yoshiki did not respond. At least in words.

Slowly, he placed the illustration down next to the one that he had drawn for Ayumi. Then, as soon as he turned back to face her directly, he leaned down and hugged her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

He had missed the feeling of them being so close together before, and he wanted to initiate it again. But more than anything, he wanted to confirm that he felt the same way, even though he had shouted his feelings at her just moments ago. "Shinozaki," he murmured. "This is the best gift that I have ever received. I mean it." He turned his head slightly and nuzzled into the crook of her neck, squeezing her a little bit tighter. "I love you too, Shinozaki. _So_ much."

Ayumi had jolted slightly at the cuddling, but before too long, she had wrapped her arms right back around Yoshiki, squeezing excitedly. "Thank you, Kishinuma. Thank you _so_ much! Sorry for taking such a long time to figure it out."

Yoshiki smirked at that.

"I'd wait for you forever… Ayumi."

He laughed at her startled gasp at using her first name so casually. He was also pleasantly surprised that she did not move away, but merely leaned into him more, rubbing her hands up and down his back. When she moved her face into his own neck, he shivered slightly at the contact.

The two remained like this for some time, the sunlight, their contact, and their emotions filling them up with warmth.

" _I can't believe… this is actually happening,_ " Yoshiki thought to himself. " _Shinozaki… no…_ Ayumi _feels the same way…_ " He squeezed a little harder.

"Alright. Break it up, you two!"

Yoshiki and Ayumi jumped apart, blushing madly and looking over towards the top of the stairs to see who had interrupted them. Yoshiki couldn't suppress a groan when he saw who it was.

His entire friend group (and even Yui) were standing there, grinning madly. Every one of them had a slight blush on their faces, but they all appeared to be genuinely happy. Although oddly enough, Mayu was sitting on Morishige's shoulders, the latter of whom seemed to be slightly uncomfortable at the added weight.

" _Here we go…_ "

"Heya!" Seiko saluted the two of them, walking over and clapping each one on the back, causing them to cough. "Looks like our little plan worked, huh?"

Yoshiki muttered, "Yeah, I guess." But it was when he heard one other voice confirm Seiko's words as well that he blinked rapidly and looked over at the source, shocked.

Ayumi was doing the same thing, as she was currently staring at him with an incredulous look on her face.

At the same time, the two spluttered, "I-I… y-you… what?"

Naomi chuckled and walked up beside her best friend, smirking at the two of them. "Aw look at that. They're already finishing each other's incoherent sentences!"

Yoshiki was not amused. "Nakashima! Explain!"

"Ha ha. Hey buddy, no need to snap." Satoshi walked over and clapped Yoshiki on the back, albeit more gently than Seiko had done. "We helped you both out a little bit. We figured you'd need the extra help." He winked. Turning to face Ayumi, he said, "Although, I am a little surprised to see that you had a crush on me, Shinozaki."

"I-I –!"

"Satoshi. No need to tease her." Naomi pat Ayumi on the shoulder, smiling at her. "I'm glad this all worked out for you two. Really."

"Okay, this is great and all, but none of you have answered my question," Yoshiki barked. "And why the hell is Suzumoto on Morishige's shoulders?"

"No reason. But we'll explain what happened." Mayu grinned at the two. "Last week, Shinozaki-san told me how she felt about you, Kishinuma-kun! And she wanted to confess her feelings to you!"

"Suzumoto-san!" Ayumi shouted, completely embarrassed. "That was supposed to stay between us!"

"And it did! Well… for a little while anyway." Mayu chuckled. "When I couldn't think of a good way for her to confess, I figured I'd enlist Shinohara-san since she'd been so successful with Nakashima-san and Mochida-kun!"

"Uh huh!" Seiko stepped in. "So then I thought that Shinozaki-san is good with illustrations, so she should draw an _amazing_ picture of her love and confess her feelings on paper! It would be awesome to see the look on Kishinuma-kun's face when he read it." She winked. "The only potential problem could have been if Kishinuma-kun didn't know how to read."

"Anyway," Mayu took over before Yoshiki could throttle the girl. "That's what I told Shinozaki-san to do, and she agreed!"

"Yeah. But that was _my_ plan. What else did you guys do?" Ayumi looked completely confused.

"This is where it gets good," Mayu stage-whispered. "The plan really did stay between Shinohara-san and me… for most of the weekend anyway. But then Shinohara-san blabbed to Nakashima-san, and one thing led to another –"

"So basically, everyone found out over the weekend how I felt," Ayumi said with a deadpanned expression.

"Eh heh." Seiko chuckled. "Maaaybe. But anyway, then Suzume-chan and I came into school this Monday, and Kishinuma-kun told us that he wanted to confess to you!"

Yoshiki blushed. "Yeah. I remember that part."

Ayumi turned to him, tears forming in her eyes. "Yoshiki…"

"Whoa! First name basis! It's getting _steamy_ in here!" Seiko fanned herself, laughing.

"Just finish the damn story, Shinohara!" Yoshiki yelled, frazzled at the sudden closeness that had just been established in their relationship by Ayumi.

"Fine, fine. Anyway, Suzume-chan and I decided that we could coordinate this really well. But for that, we'd need help."

"So once all of our friends came in that morning and heard what Kishinuma-kun was planning to do, we met up after school and decided that we'd have you draw a picture too! Then we'd have a 'planning session' so that it seemed like the idea was original." Mayu giggled. "It would be super romantic!"

"So that's why you guys all thought I was crazy when I said that I didn't think Ayumi had feelings for me." Yoshiki realized, thinking back to all of their shocked expression when he had admitted his deepest fear.

"Yep!" Mayu confirmed.

"Hey wait a second!" Yoshiki snapped, realizing something. "I asked if Ayumi had said anything to you about caring about me, and you said no!"

Mayu looked at him sheepishly. "Ha. Yeah well… I lied about that so that you wouldn't have the surprise spoiled for you."

"I see…"

"But then, Yui-sensei got involved when we had her distract Shinozaki with the class activities," Satoshi continued. "She told us that she had told Shinozaki about a romantic rendezvous, and that Shinozaki thought the spot was really romantic. So we incorporated that into the plan."

"Hold on." Ayumi looked over at Yui with a furrowed brow. "Are we _actually_ implementing those plans, Yui-sensei? I worked really hard on them!"

Yui nodded. "Of course, Shinozaki-san. It wasn't just a pointless distraction." She chuckled. "Though I am surprised _that_ was what you took away from that sentence."

"H-hey –!"

"So after all of this, we planned for Yoshiki to confess to Shinozaki today in this spot," Satoshi finished. "We figured that we should have him verbally confess, since we already had Shinozaki's down on paper."

"Yeah. Sorry about ruining your confession plans, Shinozaki-san," Mayu said somewhat embarrassedly. "But it all worked out in the end! Just like we planned!"

"I guess it did." Ayumi chuckled. "In a somewhat roundabout way."

"One question for you, class rep," Morishige spoke up, having said nothing this entire time. "It was not part of our plan to have you come to school later than usual every day this week. What exactly were you doing during that time?"

Ayumi's eyes widened. "Well… I wanted to make sure that I illustrated a perfect drawing of Yoshiki, so I… spent every morning creating all kinds of rough drafts." She blushed slightly as she looked over at the boy in question. "I tried all different sorts of poses and expressions, but in the end, this was the one I liked best." She gestured over to the gift laying on the ledge next to the window.

Yoshiki did not believe that he could have been any more flattered than he already was. But Ayumi had done the impossible. Just imagining her sitting at her desk, tirelessly working on crafting the best, most beautiful work of art of himself while at the same time sacrificing her reputation somewhat… and doing it all for him…

" _She… really does love me… Ayumi…_ "

And so, even though all of his friends were there watching, Yoshiki once again wrapped his arms around a somewhat surprised Ayumi, squeezing tightly. "Ayumi…" he mumbled.

"Aw!" Seiko cooed. "You guys are so –"

"Whoa!"

Not being able to contain his happiness any longer, Yoshiki lifted Ayumi into the air and spun her around several times, loving the sound of her jovial laughter in his ears. Even better was the fact that she grabbed onto him tightly as well so that she would be secure, but that just made it a better hug for Yoshiki.

In the background, he could hear his friends laughing and cheering, and he couldn't help but join in himself. It had taken such a long time, and after weeks and months of planning on all sides, the relationship had become a reality.

He spun her a few more times before he eventually slowed down and eased her back onto the ground, slightly dizzy. Ayumi was flushed, and her hair was somewhat askew from the spinning.

Yoshiki reached down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, using that as an excuse to then stroke her cheek lightly. She leaned into his touch, sighing quietly.

"Alright! Now for the final step in our master plan!" Mayu's voice interrupted them. She seemed oddly close.

Pausing in his actions, Yoshiki looked up at Mayu, who was suddenly right next to them. "W-what do you mean, Suzumoto?"

Mayu grinned, and the rest of his friend group chuckled. "You've gotta look a little bit higher."

Yoshiki was puzzled, but he did as she said. Looking up, he saw Mayu's hand over top of his head. But it was what was in her hand that was important.

Mistletoe.

"Suzumoto-san!" Yoshiki looked back down to see Ayumi glaring up at the other girl, her face completely red. "What do you think you're doing with this?"

Mayu seemed to not be bothered at all with her friend's tone. "Well… when two people stand under mistletoe around Christmastime, custom requires that they –"

"I know the tradition!" Ayumi snapped, flustered. "But… you can't just…"

"Oh… I think we can," Seiko interrupted, chuckling. "Better start warming up those lips you two!"

"Shinohara-san…" Ayumi growled. She turned to Yui. "Yui-sensei! You can't possibly be condoning this?"

The assistant teacher laughed. "Under normal circumstances, no." She winked. "However, the school day is officially over, and winter break has started. Besides, you two have been engaging in other forms of PDA in just the past few minutes. Surely adding one more wouldn't be too difficult?"

Ayumi had no response to this, and she merely grumbled, clearly annoyed at the situation.

But Yoshiki knew what to do.

" _Ayumi,_ " he thought, bringing up his other hand to cup her face. " _I love you._ " Knowing Ayumi was too shy to do this in front of their friends, Yoshiki moved forward quickly, hoping to catch her off guard.

It worked.

"Wha…? Mmpfh!"

Yoshiki pressed his lips to hers and closed his eyes, savoring the contact. Ayumi did not respond right away, but before too long, he felt her reciprocate, with her arms sneaking around his back and pulling him in closer.

The two stood like this for a while, ignoring the wolf-whistles and cat-calls behind their backs. This was a kiss that had long since been overdue, and two were going to enjoy it for all it was worth.

Only when air became a necessity did the two pull away, breathing heavily with flushed faces.

Not wanting to be apart for too long however, Yoshiki moved forward and rested his forehead on Ayumi's looking into her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Ayumi."

Ayumi smiled back at him, pecking him once on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Yoshiki."

Then, at the same time, the two murmured:

"I love you."

* * *

 _Whew! That took a_ _lot_ _longer than I expected! Now I know how Yoshiki and Ayumi felt after spending all week on their Christmas presents._

 _I figured everyone would want an Ayushiki kiss, but I knew it wouldn't just happen right away. Gotta tease the readers somehow!_

 _Also, I never described snow in the story because there wasn't any! It's extremely warm where I am living (as someone I know said, it's time to put on our Christmas shorts), plus the added magical snow might have pushed this story into complete cheesiness territory._

 _Finally, I hope everyone got the pun in the title… I used the words "drawn" or "drawing" so many times in this, it's not even funny!_

 _Hope this story was nice and fluffy… or funny and weird if nothing else! Merry Christmas!_


End file.
